Statistically, 40% of those who attend SLE are accepted later on, while 9% of everyone who applies are accepted. Obviously if you attend SLE your chances of being accepted are higher, but attending SLE does not necessarily or directly help admissions. The reason for the higher acceptance rate for those in SLE is because those selected for SLE are seen as more promising in the first place while many more less qualified people go into application without attending SLE.

@Saralee, there are so many threads on this subject that I strongly encourage you to use the search function above to get the various perspectives. I don’t know where @s-xuer got that data; it’s the first time I’ve seeen it. But that aside, the conventional wisdom on this forum is that SLE confers no — zero, zilch, nada — special benefit or advantage when applying to USMA. Please don’t confuse coincidence or correlation with cause-and-effect.

If you was selected to go to SLE would that mean you have a better chance to get into West Point?

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NO. Attending SLE does not improve your chances of appointment at all. You get no WCS points for SLE and WCS points are what matters. If you want to improve your appointment chances, attend Boys/Girls State.

It may appear that SLE attendance improves chances for three reasons:

Selection for SLE is semi-competitive. Spots are filled on a first come, first served basis, but you have to meet certain qualifications to attend and you compete with others candidates until all spots are filled.

Those who are selected to attend SLE are highly likely to qualify to advance to the full application.

Those who attend SLE are highly likely to follow through and complete the full application.

There may be a high correlation between SLE attendance and appointment, but that does not mean attendance influences appointment. WCS scores and local competition influence appointments, period.

However, SLE is a valuable experience. It provides a candidate with a glimpse of cadet/military life and helps them decide if USMA is the right place. While it is not Beast Barracks/Plebe year, it is far more rigorous and structured an environment than most high-schoolers have experienced. It certainly allows them to experience functioning with reduced sleep.

SLE attendance also provides a few things to make the application process a little easier. You take the CFA and interview with a Cadet Squad Leader. If either don't go well, you can redo them back home. If they go well, you've saved a lot of time better spent on other areas.

At SLE, we were told during an admissions brief that 40% of SLE attendees are offered appointments, so that statistic stands. However, the above posts are correct in stating that correlation should not be confused for causation, as many factors are at play here.

Getting or not getting into SLE has virtually no impact on admission to West Point.

Here’s why:

1. If you applied to SLE in the first place, that already expresses to USMA that you’re interested in attending since your junior year. Being selected or not selected makes no difference there.

2. SLE participants are mainly chosen using academic criteria, as at this point in the process, medical and physical tests have not yet been conducted. This being said, some of the kids who attend SLE have health issues that will prevent them from being admitted and others will not pass the CFA, etc.

3. There is something called Boys/Girls State that occurs in some states at the same time as SLE. A lot of good candidates choose to go to this instead.

The statistic we heard at SLE this year was that 40% of SLE attendees are appointed but it was that 80% of SLE attendees follow through and complete the application and are qualified and 50% of those 80% are offered appointments.

2018 no sle. 2019 sle...was offered boys state but after speaking with RC....chose SLE. RC offered the leadership portion of his application was solid and thought at least for him, SLE was a better choice. So, SLE is an encouraging sign. If you have questions, your RC would be an excellent resource as it is so dependent on each candidates application. So boys or girls state vs sle...just depends. Good luck...

Correlation vs causation. SLE attendance correlates with an appointment, however there doesn’t appear to be a causative relationship.
Attendees are more likely to secure appointments but attendance does not increase the probability of an appointment.

Strong correlation for competitive candidates. No correlation for admissions requirement. If you’re the best or one of the best in your district with Nom and passed DODMERB you have high correlation for an Appointment with or without SLE.

My son, a yuk at WP, did not attend SLE. He attended boys state. Boys state gives you points, SLE does not.

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Attend both if you can. Attend boys/girls state if you can’t attend both. Cookiemom is right, SLE although awesome if you can go does not add points to WCS. However, if you receive an award during SLE that can give you a boost in your candidacy. Pick the experience right for you.